Sunday, November 13, 2011

11/13/2011
The recent string of
indicting studies on the country describing it as a mine field for
business for having either the most hated or the worst airport in the
world; a justice system that is unstable as the minds of the judges who
run it and the unpredictable policies of government, all add up to
conclude that Noynoy is failing miserably in the front of attracting
foreign investments.

Noynoy’s biggest fault is resting on his
presidential campaign laurels, stoked mostly by public sympathy owing to
the death of his mother, the late Cory Aquino, which an economist
recently described thus as his inability to convert what is supposed to
be an overwhelming vote, which remains disputable, as fuel to get the
economy moving..... MORE

11/13/2011
Noynoy and his Justice chief
certainly must be seen by the world as a laughing stock and an
embarrassment to the Filipino people, what with their insistence in
claiming that Gloria Arroyo has been using the travel for medical
purposes as a stepping stone to become a political asylee in any of the
countries she has listed down to which the country has no extradition
treaty.

Both Leila de Lima and of course Noynoy — by virtue of
what his dums-dums of spokesmen parrot — even went to the extent of
spreading the rumor of Gloria having sought political asylum with the
papers from the Dominican Republic handed personally to her by the DR’s
Ambassador to India — to the point of saying that this text message
based on Yellow rumor will have to be verified by the country’s
Department of Foreign Affairs, thus internationalizing Noynoy’s
vindictive and persecutorial issue against Gloria, and coming off as
thoroughly stupid and embarrasing to a nation..... MORE

Even if Gaddafi had lived for another 100 years, he could not have
killed even a fraction of the number obliterated by NATO during its
intervention in Libya, claims Syria’s deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal
al-Mikdad, in an exclusive interview with RT.

­The top Syrian diplomat recalled that NATO’s aggression against
Libya was carried out under the guise of restoring human rights and
protecting civilians.

­‘They send money to kill Syrians’

Faisal al-Mikdad
acknowledges that terrorist groups within Syria are being financed in an
unofficial way by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan, and he has
appealed to the people of these countries not to support such
activities..... MORE

11/13/2011
If Sen. Serge Osmeña will
look into the possibility that Ashmore may have violated some laws of
the country and such violation was aided by certain government
officials, he should inquire into the sale of the 40 percent share of
Aramco in Petron to Ashmore.

It appears that Philippine National
Oil Co. (PNOC) waived its right of first refusal in favor of Ashmore
after which the sale of Aramco shares in Petron was hurriedly
consumated despite the suspicion that Ashmore was not a qualified buyer
in view of certain conditions set under the Aramco-Petron Sale
Agreement. However, it is bruited about that certain PNOC officials
allegedly manipulated the sale thereby ignoring and brushing aside the
conditions that were supposed to be followed.

If the conditions in the original Aramco Petron Sale Agreement were
only followed strictly, Ashmore may not have qualified as the third
party buyer of the Aramco shares. .... MORE

11/13/2011
“Congress shall give highest
priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right
of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic and
political inequalities and remove cultural inequities by equitably
diffusing wealth and political power for the common good. To this end,
the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use and disposition
of property and its increment.” (Philippine Constitution, Article XIII,
Section 1)
It is worth noting that the above inherently
significant and highly relevant constitutional provision is directly
under the overall title of “Social Justice and Human Rights.”

Among
other things, there is the marked indication that the above cited
stipulation in the Philippine Constitution is not only mandatory but
also urgent. It would be good to take note of the following facts.
First, that the Philippine Constitution has been inspired by no less
than the maternal origin of the incumbent President. Second, that the
same Constitution became the Fundamental Law of the Land since 1986.
Third, the said constitutional provision is now some two decades and a
half years old — and the Filipinos in general have yet to live and savor
the advent of social justice in the country as a whole..... MORE

11/13/2011
Twitters are plucking the
compassionate and humanitarian strings of the Filipino heart beyond the
legal and political on this issue of the medical alleviation to the
condition of Rep. Gloria Arroyo overseas. More often the argument is
historical citing profusely the “humanitarian” accommodations afforded
by the late President Ferdinand Marcos to Sen. Benigno Aquino and that
of President Gloria Arroyo to President Joseph Estrada. Such precedents,
however, are non-sequiturs, not even valid arguments even considering
the “humanitarian” rationale or justification for allowing the former
president to travel overseas to seek medical treatment from experts.

However, there is gap of difference in all three cases.

Clearly,
the late dictator Marcos’ move allowing Sen. Benigno Aquino’s coronary
bypass in the United States in 1980 was a political strategy convenient
for lapdogs whose hides are pestered by the “tic” that was the
opposition Ninoy. It was actually an exile whereby Marcos’ hegemonic
estimates would be forever for the outspoken senator. Fate, however,
overlapped and Ninoy stubbornly headed for home leading to his
assassination..... MORE

11/13/2011
President Aquino bereft of
any solid achievement at the homefront turned to blowing his own
non-existent horn yesterday before a group of corporate chief executive
officers at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum business
summit as he bragged about the country not needing to import rice
anymore and a discovery of a major natural gas deposit which will be
bigger than the Malampaya field.

The Malampaya gas field is already a major source of natural gas that feeds at least three high-capacity power plants.

Aquino is in Honolulu, Hawaii for a three-day working visit to attend the 2011 Apec Leaders’ Meeting from Nov. 11 to 13..... MORE

11/13/2011
The Philippine government
will continue to work with countries affected by the deployment ban
imposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for
the benefit of overseas Filipino workers, Malacañang yesterday said.

“We
will continue to consult the stakeholders and coordinate with our
friends, the countries that will be the subject of the list (ban),”
deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said in a radio interview
over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan yesterday.

“It’s not a judgment on the
country; it’s not a judgment on the friendship but we would like to work
with them, to continue to work with them on how to deal with the
situation because.... MORE

11/13/2011
The Philippines’ Puerto
Princesa Underground River, the Amazon rainforest, Vietnam’s Halong Bay
and Argentina’s Iguazu Falls were named among the world’s new seven
wonders of nature, according to organizers of a global poll.

The other three crowned the world’s natural wonders are South Korea’s Jeju Island,
Indonesia’s Komodo and South Africa’s Table Mountain, said the Zurich-based New7Wonders Foundation, citing provisional results.

Final
results will be announced early 2012, said the Swiss foundation,
warning there may yet be changes between the provisional winners and the
final list..... MORE

11/13/2011
MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan — Two
big dams in Bulacan have serious problems that need immediate action
from the national government to prevent future flooding in many parts of
the province, Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado said yesterday.

In the
weekly radio program “The Governor’s Hour” aired over dwSS with co-host
Rommel Ramos, Alvarado said that he, together with Vice Gov. Daniel
Fernando and members of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan are calling on the
national government to act fast on the problems besetting Ipo dam and
the 13-year-old Bustos rubber dam.

The governor said that they
were shocked after learning that Maynilad, a concessionaire of the
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, is directly using Ipo dam
as its main reservoir for 14 years now..... MORE

11/13/2011
LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao
tipped the scales at 143 pounds, his lightest fighting weight in 2 1/2
years, while Juan Manuel Marquez matched his heaviest ever at 142 in
Friday’s weigh-in for their third fight.

Filipino icon Pacquiao,
53-3 with two drawn and 38 knockouts, risks his 14-fight win streak and
the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown on Saturday against
Mexico’s Marquez, who is 53-5 with one drawn and 39 knockouts.

Marquez,
a lightweight champion moving up in size, also weighed 142 pounds in
his only prior welterweight fight, a 2009 loss by decision in 2009 to
unbeaten US star Floyd Mayweather.

“He’s a big target,” Pacquiao
said. “It’s not easy to put on more weight and maintain your speed. You
get slower. My speed is going to be a problem for him.”.... MORE

11/13/2011
PALEMBANG, Indonesia — Women
power charged the Philippine drive that generated three gold medals on
Saturday while other Filipino athletes salvaged as many silvers and four
bronze medals in the 26th Southeast Asian Games being held here,
Jakarta and West Java.

Marestella Torres, pushing herself to the
limit to extend a career which obtained the first feather in 2005,
cleared 6.71m in the third of six attempts in long jump at the
Jakabaring Sports City for the gold medal and erased a Games’ standard
she herself posted in the 2009 edition of the SEAG in Laos.

Over
in Jakarta, Rani Ann Ortega Francesca Camille Alarilla and Ma. Carla
Janice Lagman obliterated the frustrations of the taekwondo world
championships in Russia edging a newly crowned world titlist team from
Vietnam by a mere half point in a much-talked about head-to-head in
women’s poomsae..... MORE